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Sunday, October 27, 2013

Curse of Chucky Review

Curse of Chucky Review

When I was younger, posters for the Chucky movies used to give me nightmares. I could never comprehend that dolls and toys could be evil, and the idea of them being evil really gave me the shivers. The first couple "Child's Play" films I thought were very effective. So effective that I can't even remember finishing either of them when I was growing up. I remember, even at a young age, not being very impressed with the third film. When we got to "Bride of Chucky" and "Seed of Chucky," I felt the entire franchise was doomed and done for. Chucky became plastic version of Freddy Kruger. He lost everything that made him scary and he became a harmless joke, something disturbingly funny to laugh at every Halloween. I am still entertained by the character, I just haven't been frightened by him in quite awhile.

I find it sad to report that "Curse of Chucky," doesn't change anything. After viewing this latest offering, it comes as no surprise that was a direct-to-video sequel. This Chucky movie is the least daring, least imaginative, and least scary film in the entire series. Brad Dourif continues to be very effective as the voice of Chucky, and he hits lots of dark comedic punchlines, but that doesn't add up for everything. Setting Chucky loose in an old house isn't clever or scary. For "Curse of Chucky," the filmmakers have essentially merged the haunted house movie with the slasher movie, and the result is quite boring.

Brad Dourif's daughter, Fiona Dourif, plays Nica. A wheelchair-bound college dropout who lives with her mother. In the beginning of the film, a box is delivered to their house. The contents of the box is...you guessed it...a Chucky doll. The doll instantly kills Nica's mother, and as the opening credits roll, the rest of Nica's family comes to Nica's house to discuss funeral arrangements. While the whole family is together, Chucky goes on his rampage. It is also later discovered that Charles Lee Ray, the serial killer who possessed the Chucky doll, has a connection with Nica's family.

Fiona does fairly well with her character, but the rest of the acting is pretty mediocre. The entire production feels like a direct-to-video movie, it has that direct-to-video glow. There is plenty of blood and guts throughout the movie and some interesting kills. But the story is rather silly and doesn't add anything of real weight to the Chucky mythology. Its just an excuse to let the character out of its box to kill people. There is a nice nod to the past films after the credits, had the movie focused on that then I feel like I would have liked "Curse of Chucky" just fine. But all the sequel adds up to is a slasher movie with Chucky in it. Not as interesting.